We left early this morning, arriving at Woodland Springs Touring Park,€24--our first "adults only" campground. I must say, it's very quiet. We weren't allowed to check in until 1 pm and it was only 10:20 so we parked in the guest parking and relaxed. While I was in the office I saw a bookshelf of great books and grabbed three in under a minute. Chuck has been hooked on his first Michael Connelly experience--The Black Echo--and has not moved since he started it.
I, on the other hand, wanted to take a walk in Dartmoor. I ordered our fresh croissants and a couple of half baguettes for tomorrow and soon enough we got settled into our camping spot. I decided to try the walk right out the campground gates.
It felt good to be outside, even though the weather prediction of sunshine with no clouds turned out to be a rumor. There is lots of walking around here and I wanted to get started as soon as possible.
Soon enough, I found another sign letting me know where to go. I had to lift this very heavy gate, undo the rope from around the rock, lug it back into place and reposition the rope.
Now all I had to worry about was stepping into cow patties or bunny holes. Perky little brown bunnies were hopping around, dashing into the bushes as I clomped along. I even saw a silky little mouse in the underbrush. It does feel a little strange walking through someone's farm land but these are public footpaths.
I had no difficulty with this gate.
Soon I found my way back to the start.
This hike was just a warm up. We plan to find Spinster's Rock tomorrow and see a local castle. We'll be here for four days.
Now it's time for my book.
I traveled among unknown men,
In lands beyond the sea:
Nor England! Did I know till then
What love I bore to thee.
~ William Wordsworth
2 comments:
Don't you just love the pathways in England? I guess not all the farmers like them, but they are forced to put up with it. I think they are marvelous, and I hope most people are careful and shut gates, and don't litter.
Some of the right of ways follow old Roman paths. We took one out of Ampthill once....quite nice.
I will be sorry when your blog ends....you have VERY faithful and given all of us readers a wonderful trip full of insights and entertainment. Not to mention learning a thing or two when you gave us historical facts.
Cheers,
Karin on Paros
It is SO HOT and HUMID here...it goes on for days and days which turns into months. Thank God for the sea and swimming.... I envy you your cloudy cool days.
Karin,
I love all the footpaths and we plan to take advantage of as many as we can while we're here in the Devon countryside. I could use some of your sunshine though. We woke up freezing this morning and had to turn the heater on!
Claire
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